I finally drove my current vehicle into and nearly thru the ground. My 92 Mitsubishi Expo likely could have survived another 40-50 thousand miles if I’d treated it better, but I’m mechanically inept as well as absent minded so there was a two or three year period there where the oil never got changed.
So… I need to get a new car.
My requirements?
I want to be sitting as high off the ground as my Expo did. That’s higher than your average car, but a little lower than a full sized van/truck. I think it’s height is about 65 inches. The Expo also had great visibility, windows that were well placed and big. I can’t go for something I can’s see well out the back of. The Matrix drove me nuts because the rear window seemed big enough from the outside but once you are in the drivers seat you realize that it’s not (in my opinion) big enough. The window’s just at a bad angle.
I want gas mileage of at least 20 city. I know I’m compromising with how fuel efficient a car I can get if I’m setting the height requirement, unless I want something that blows over in a high wind that kind of height means comparable width and thus size.
As idiot proof as possible. I can add oil. I can add Wiper fluid. I can check oil. There we have the extent of my mechanical abilities. The last time I disassembled and reassembled an engine it was a lawn mower engine in high school and I enjoyed it but haven’t exercised those skills since.
I went to a car show last weekend (I truly believe my car realized this and that’s why it died yesterday).
My favorites from the show.
Saturn Vue. It’s a Saturn. I like what I’ve heard about their cars, I like their show room and I like composite doors.
Honda Element. This is currently in last place because the only reason I want this one is because it’s SO COOL looking. The outside is kind of boxy but the inside’s just gen-x extreme fun. But I’m barely young enough to be considered Gen x and likely more properly considered the tail end of the baby boomers. I don’t mountain bike or do any “extreme” sports so the car’s really not designed for me. It’s also my least expensive of the 4, and it’s a Honda… Usually very idiot proof.
Mitsubishi Outlander. Pretty much the successor to the Expo. The only one who’s options included heated front seats (hey winter’s over but I do live in Minnesota after all) and aside from a bit of a problem with transmissions in the early 90s Mitsubishi’s have been pretty solid from what little I’ve heard.
Subaru Forester. The only vehicle I’m considering all wheel drive in ('cause it’s a Subaru and there’s no other choice) everything else I’d get front wheel drive because the furthest off road I go is pulling on to a gravel shoulder. Subaru’s also have a pretty good reputation from what I can remember. It doesn’t sit quite as high as the others, but unless it bothers me in the test drive it shouldn’t be too bad. Also the most expensive of the bunch with the options I have selected.
